By Swati Verma
BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold prices touched a one-week high on Wednesday, as the dollar fell to two-week lows and as a host of geopolitical factors stoked demand for the safe-haven metal.
Spot gold rose 0.4 percent to $1,344.16 an ounce as of 0704 GMT, its fourth straight session of gains. Prices earlier hit a one-week high of $1,345.35 an ounce.
U.S. gold futures gained 0.2 percent at $1,348 an ounce.
"Lots of things are happening at the same time - the (U.S.-China) trade war, a possible U.S. attack on Syria that navigates to conflict between the United States and Russia, and that has a very strong impact on gold markets," said Yuichi Ikemizu, Tokyo branch manager at CIBC Standard Bank.
Russia and the United States tangled on Tuesday at the United Nations over the use of chemical weapons in Syria as Washington and its allies considered whether to strike at President Bashar al-Assad's forces over a suspected poison gas attack last weekend.
"Dollar price movements and political developments are driving markets right now, including gold," said Jordan Eliseo, chief economist at gold trader ABC Bullion.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six other major currencies, was down 0.1 percent at 89.518, after earlier falling to 89.472, its weakest since March 28.
A weaker dollar makes bullion cheaper for holders of other currencies.
"In the short-term, gold may well remain range-bound as it has for some time, though there are no shortages of catalysts that could send it higher," Eliseo said.
Spot gold may retest a resistance at $1,354 per ounce, said Reuters' technical analyst Wang Tao.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping's promise to open China's economy further, reinforcing a view that a full-scale trade war can be averted.
"Tensions between China and the U.S. seem to be relaxing after Xi's conciliatory note, but with the Trump administration, people are not really sure what is going to happen next," Ikemizu said. "So, investors want to hold positions in gold."
Gold is often seen as a safe investment during times of political and financial uncertainty.
Markets are also waiting for cues on the outlook for U.S. monetary tightening from consumer inflation data and minutes from the Federal Reserve's March meeting, due later on Wednesday.
Tighter monetary policy raises the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
In other precious metals, silver rose 0.3 percent to$16.60 an ounce.
Platinum climbed 0.7 percent to $930.15 an ounce, while palladium fell 0.3 percent to $949.50 an ounce.
(Reporting by Swati Verma in BENGALURU; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Biju Dwarakanath)
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)